


RWBY: After War

by HouseRose



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-06-05 23:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6728068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HouseRose/pseuds/HouseRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story takes place 25 years after the events of volume 3. The next generation of huntsman and huntresses are starting at the rebuilt Beacon Academy. The descendants of team RWBY and friends must attend classes and train hard, all while uncovering a new plot taking form in Vale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cliff Side

It was kinda chilly, a low fog rolling over the forest floor like a floating cover of snow. She didn't mind the cold though, it was comforting in a way and she had always loved the snow ever since she was little. It was silly but the snow reminded her of her parents. She trudged over the forest floor, hoping over logs and breathing in the crisp air. It made her senses crackle, bursting to life. She felt so alive and alert, like she could hear every sound and smell every smell, from the damp leaves to the scent of the dirt below her feet. She could hear the the crisp gurgling stream to her right and off in the distance... A voice?  
She paused and listened. It was definitely a voice and it was calling her name. She recognized it now. It was uncle Yang. She smiled, and broke into a run. It must be getting close to time to leave. Despite being a woman, Yang insisted that she and her brother call call her "Uncle Yang". She neared the end of the woods and she paused for a second. She wondered if aunt Blake was still here? Her curiosity absolved itself and she ran to find out.   
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you," Yang exclaimed.  
"No, you haven't. You've just been standing here calling my name."  
"Don't be a smart ass," Yang retorted. "What were you doing?" She then asked.   
"Visiting their graves," she replied solemnly, all the energy draining away.  
"Chin up kiddo," Yang advised. "We don't know that they're dead. They're just missing. Honestly I hate that the put those graves up there. It's not time yet."  
"It's been two years," she replied. "But still, I know you're right. I go up there in the hopes that maybe the graves will get my message to them somehow."  
There was a long pause and the trees seemed to groan with sorrow. Then Yang spoke, the pain in her voice very audible, "I miss them too, but I refuse to believe they are gone and I know they haven't forgotten you or your brother."  
"I..." She began, but was promptly interrupted by her brother who came screaming from the house.   
"Winter! There you are! Come on, we need to go! We're going to be late!"  
'Most twins are inseparable, but can't stand mine,' Winter thought to herself, in annoyance. 'If he doesn't calm down, he's going to hurt himself.'  
"Hey, calm down little man," Yang urged. "I don't allow spazes on my bike."  
He grabbed his helmet from the porch and buckled it under his chin as he strolled over.   
"This chill enough for you?" He asked sarcastically. "And where were you?" He continued pointedly, directing his attention towards Winter.  
"I was visiting our moms' graves," she replied, in a bitter voice. "When was the last time you visited them?"  
"I don't," he replied. "They wouldn't want us moping around, they'd want us out there living."  
"We can live and be happy and still pay our respects and miss them!" Winter snapped. "Mommy loves flowers..."   
The silence was deafening. This air of unease lingered even as Yang started her bike and the twins climbed on. It was time. They were off to Beacon Academy, to follow in their parents foot steps.


	2. The Sun Girl and the Moon Girl

Chapter 2

Phoenix loved the sky. It was her home. As a faunus she had always been teased, picked on, but up here they couldn't get her. Up here she was free. She was lucky, some faunus were born with ears or tusks or some even got a tail, which was a bit more practically useful, but she had gotten wings. She never took them for granted and used them when ever she could. They were her pride and joy, her strongest muscles, and their bright red and orange feathers were always kept in perfect shape. When she realized that they gave her an edge in combat, she knew, she had to become a huntress. Faunus were hated even more after the white fang incidents all those years ago. Even though faunus huntsman and huntresses fought against the White Fang, no one seemed to remember that, only that a group of faunus attacked Vale and Beacon, and waged war on the human race. It was up to her to change the worlds view of the faunus.  
     She heard a shot ring out and she felt a dust round clip one of her feathers. She whirled and glared in direction the shot had come, hovering mid air, hoping to see who had tried to shoot her down. Then she saw them, The Night Stalkers, an elite group of the White Fang that continued operations even after the main organization had been disbanded. They hunted and killed faunus who helped humans, and assassinated high political leaders to get faunus into positions of power in the government.  
     "I really, really hate these guys," she muttered to herself. "I also don't have time for this. The airship for Beacon is about to leave and I don't think they'd like me flying myself to the school."  
     She primed an incineration grenade and threw it at the base of the tree they are perched in.  
     'Awfully kind of them to all huddle together so I can take them all out at once,' she thought to herself with a chuckle.  
     However the grenade never reached the canopy. As it spiraled down towards its target, the sniper shot it out of the air.  
     'He can only shoot down one or two at a time,' she realized. 'So all I have to do is throw three, no... four, just far enough apart so that one won't be caught in another's explosion, and at least one will make it through. One is all that's needed.'  
     She primed four more grenades threw them one after the other at the base of the tree. The sniper shot two out of the air but had to reload. One of the other four tried to shoot the other two using an automatic rifle but failed and the grenades went off at the base of tree, obliterating the base and roots, felling it, and creating a small forest fire in the process.  
     Phoenix used her semblance to absorb the flames, putting out the fire, and used them to light her wings on fire, which created centralized up drafts, propelling her forward with less effort, helping her make up for lost time.  
     Soon she arrived at the air docks and she set down behind the building. She folded her wings in and closed her armor over them. She walked up to the steps and suddenly realized just how much energy she had expended. She saw the world go hazy and then black. She felt like she was falling but not in a good way like when she would fold her wings mid air and do a dive. This feeling wasn't controlled. She was helpless. She heard a weird voice and wondered where it was coming from. She began to open her eyes and looking over her was... A faunus girl? She had odd yet intoxicatingly beautiful eyes. They were a dark purple with gold flecks scattered through out. They reminded her of royalty, gold crowns and deep purple cloaks. A bluish light made her eyes seem to dance, the light bouncing in every direction at once. Phoenix felt oddly comfortable, like all pain she had was just melting away. Her senses snapped to focus and she jumped back, skidding along the ground as she clambered away, still unable to stand. Here was a faunus helping out a random stranger, who, as far as she should be able to tell, was just any other old human. Everything about her seemed so kind though.  
     "Who... Who are you?" It was supposed to sound fierce but came out as a stammer.  
     "It's okay," the girl replied, "I'm not going to hurt you. You hit your head pretty hard, there was blood everywhere."  
     Phoenix reached back and touched the back of her head. Her hair felt crackly but there didn't seem to be any blood.  
     "Oh, no, don't worry. I healed you all up. You're fine now," the girl grinned. "You're low on aura though so be careful."  
     "I didn't realize a healing semblance like that existed." Phoenix observed.  
     "Actually it's not," the girl replied. "It's just a technique I picked up awhile back. It's one of many things I can use my semblance for."  
     "Are you a rune user?" Phoenix asked. She'd heard of huntresses, such as Ms. Goodwitch of Beacon and Ms. Schnee, using their semblances to manipulate the environment and perform feats akin to magic.  
     "Oh, no, nothing like that." She blushed and waved her hands. "It allows me to draw power from the moon. That's the simplest I can explain it. I can do a lot of really cool stuff with it including a few rune techniques, but it's hard to explain exactly how it works. Semblances just keep getting more and more complicated," she mused to herself.  
     "Semblances are far more adaptable than we once thought. They aren't something we are born with but actually something that is learned and develops over time. It can be changed and manipulated by many things, including dust," A voice chimed in from the bottom of the steps.  
     "Winter!" the girl exclaimed, excitedly. This new girl, Winter, was a bit taller than the one who healed her and she had white hair with red highlights. Her eyes were a sparkling silver, which was kinda odd. The air around her seemed cold and foreboding but her expression seemed warm and relaxed.  
     "Hey there Yue," she smiled and hugged the other girl. Then she looked at Pheonix and asked, "are you okay?"  
     The other girl, Yue, responded, "yeah, she'll be fine. She just used to much energy at once."  
     Winter squinted at Phoenix, like she was trying to see into her soul. 'She couldn't do that, could she? You had to make physical contact to connect with someone's aura, right?' Phoenix wondered apprehensively.  
     "Hi. My name is Winter," she said, smiling again. "And this...," she pointed at the faunus girl, "is Yueliang, but everyone just calls her Yue. We're cousins... Sort of. And that guy sulking back there is my brother Fryse," she concluded, pointing at a tall boy in a very steampunk outfit, with bright blue eyes and curly brown hair.  
     He had this attitude about him, like the world owed him for something. It was a look she knew all to well. Many faunus had that look and she herself had had it before. She wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for him or cautious of him.  
     "Are you here to head for Beacon?" Yue asked.  
     "Ye... Yeah," Phoenix stammered, "how did you know?"  
"Well you are wearing a bunch of armor silly," she laughed. "Kind of a dead give away, don't you think?"  
     Up near the station a horn sounded. The three girls looked at one another and simultaneously yelled, "Oh, crap! We're gonna be late!"  
     They looked over and realized that Fryse had already continued walking ahead. They giggled and together, they ran to catch up. The wind whispered through their hair and though the bustling station. The journey of a lifetime was just beginning.

 


	3. No Turning Back

  
The ride on the airships went mostly without incident. When they docked everyone one was practically trampling one another to be the first ones out. Winter got Fryse, with Yues help, to agree to using his semblance to make them all faster so they could get over the crowd and out before everyone else. As the the doors began to open they started to run across the walls towards the door. A few acrobatic flips later they were standing in front of the rest of the crowd and they returned to their normal timeframe.   
     "First ones off the ship!" Winter cried triumphantly, high-fiveing Yue.   
     It seemed odd to Pheonix how happy and seemingly care free they were. Even Fryse had a bit of a smirk. She had never met people like this, people who simply enjoyed life as it happened.   
     The group headed off towards the front of the school as more airships began to dock and more students poured in. The walked across the court yard and looked around. Pheonix stared in wonder at everything. She had dreamed of being at beacon but it was so surreal that she wasn't sure if it was just a dream. The air seemed so light and the trees smelled so rich. The world around her seemed like it was a part of nature not a combat school.   
     "Hey come on. The auditorium is this way." Winter grabbed Phoenix's arm and led her towards the large building at the base of the tower.   
     Winter, Fryse, and Yue had been to beacon as kids with their parents, so they knew exactly where they were going. Winter had already seen all the sights here and was eager to become a student, to go through initiation and study at the academy that she had heard stories about all her life. She wondered if this was what Beacon looked like when her mom's were here. When she had gotten off the air ships, she had looked around to see any signs of damage to the courtyard, but everything was spotless. She wasn't surprised, after all the school had been practically destroyed by Grimm and then rebuilt. Any evidence of where her parents first met was long gone.  
     The four of them reached the giant doors to the auditorium. Each one had slightly different thoughts when the stared up at the giant arch, but the base excitement was there, shared by all of them like an emotional link. They were about to take the first step to fulfilling their dreams. Their was no turning back now. 


	4. First steps... Sort of

  
     Winter was the first to step into the grand auditorium and the others followed her in, less than a pace behind. They chose seats at the front and sat down waiting for the rest the new students to file in.  
     When the rest of the students had taken their places, Ozpin, the headmaster of beacon, walked out on the stage and began to speak. It was the standard inspirational one about first steps that Winter had heard from her moms a thousand times. Afterwards, students filled out and headed to the gym. People set up camp there, getting ready for dinner and then bed. A campfire dinner was hosted outside in the west courtyard, and the group sat together, talking, eating, and just enjoying themselves.   
     Winter wondered if this is what it had been like for her mom and Yang when they got here. Probably not, because it had been just the two of them. Winter smiled, she had already found friends here, okay one friend plus her bother and her cousin. Still, she wasn't alone, that was the point. She felt confident she could handle anything thrown at them.   
The fire crackled, sending orange sparks twirling up into the sky like a fountain of stars. There was almost no smoke, and not a cloud in the sky. The clock tower in the center of the school shone brightly, but other than that, the only other lights were the fires. The stars glittered in the sky which was now a deep, piercing, navy blue, not quite black but almost. It was calming, almost like drifting down a river of those stars, gleaming and twinkling.   
     'If this is what life is like here at Beacon, I can't wait for initiation tomorrow,' thought Winter. The students cleaned up and headed back to the gym to turn in for the night.


	5. First Ste......

      The morning bell sounded, somewhat akin to the emergency klaxon alarm, jolting everyone from their sleep. Winter bolted upright, violently thrown from a rather pleasant dream. She drowsily looked around, wondering where she was, not remembering at first that she was at Beacon. Winter looked around and saw her brother and cousin to her left and the shy red head they met yesterday, laying at her feet. She appeared to still be asleep, though she appeared to be having a rather unpleasant tell dream.   
     Winter got out of her sleeping bag and crawled over to Pheonix. Her cousin seemed to have the same idea and they bumped shoulders and upon doing so, glanced at one another. Yue grinned and made a motion with her hands. Winter grinned and formed a chunk of ice mid air and then stuck it down the back of Pheonix's shirt. She yelped, bolting up straight, and made a grabbing motion near her sheets and brought her fist up next to Winters throat. Yue was too busy laughing to notice the motion, but Winter looked questioningly at Pheonix, who's face went from fierce to sheepish as soon as she realized who was in front of her.  
     She lowered her hand, letting the fist uncurl and drop to her side. She averted her gaze and started to get up. "Don't try something like that again..." She began. "...please." She got up and walked away.  
Winter noticed what looked like bulges in the back of Pheonix's shirt, but figured it must just be ripples in the fabric and the lighting. She got up, got dressed, and headed to her locker to get her weapons.  She retrieved her gear and headed over to Yue's locker. Yue was massaging her cat ears while reading a comic book she had picked up the other day. She yawned and looked up, noticing Winter walking towards her, and grinned.   
     "You ready?" Winter asked, a serious look on her face.   
     "Of course!" Yue replied, her face never breaking its happy go lucky appearance. "I wonder what it will be like? Mom and Dad always said that their initiation was retrieving chess pieces in a Grimm infested forest."  
     Winter thought it over for a second and then said, "Yeah, but it's supposed to be different every year."  
     "Maybe but it has been, what.... 20 years or more since that Beacon initiation?" Yue replies. "They've got to recycle ideas eventually, right?"  
     "Probably but what are the chances we'll get the sa..." Winter started to reply, but was cut off by the loud speaker choosing precisely that moment to make an announcement.   
     "Will all fIrst year students please report to Beacon cliff for initiation." Boomed Glynda Goodwitch's voice over the loud speaker.  
     Winter and Yue looked at each other, having heard that same line many times from their parents stories of their time at Beacon, and Yue smirked and punched Winter in the arm. "You were saying?" She snickered, and Winter only glared in response.   
     They headed to the Cliff and stood on the ornamental plates as instructed. The forest stretched out below them, a vast ocean of emerald green trees of all different types, shapes, and sizes. It was a beautiful example of natures diversity. Ozpin walked out in front of them as the stood, lined up in a neat row, and began to speak.   
     "It is time for you all to take your first steps. This is your first test at this school, though your transcripts say that you should pass with ease." Ozpin grins to him self as though he just made a joke that only he gets and continues. "You must travel to a ruined temple at the end of the forest and retrieve a relic. However there are many Grimm in the forest and as such this is not a task to be taken lightly. Hesitate and you could very well die. The instructors will moniter you for the duration of the test, but they will not intervene. It is not their job to keep you safe. You wish to become huntsman and huntresses, then we cannot coddle you. However, it is not a task you will need to endure alone. A lone huntsman is strong, a team however is unstoppable."   
     He stops and looks down the row, his face somber, and begins again. "You may have heard how teams are formed here and my even have had family who went though this themselves at one point..." He looks directly at Yue and Winter. "...However, this does not mean you know everything. Teams are formed of four members but there is an even more important aspect to consider... Partners. You will be assigned partners today whom you will work closely with for the next four years. Partner groups will then be be paired at the end of initiation." He looks up and down the row again and sips his coffee. "Your partner will be the first person you make eye contact with after landing. Any questions?"  
     Pheonix pipes up, "uhh yes sir, I have one."   
     Ozpin looks at her amused and replies, "No we will not be not be dropping you off at the bottom of the cliff. You will be launched out over the forest and be in complete free fall."  
     "Will we ge..." Pheonix began.  
     "No, you will not get a parachute. You will use your own landing strategy. As huntsman in training, you should already have on which you have practiced. Any other questions?"  
     "No sir," Pheonix replied, looking worried.  
     The gears below the platforms started to click into place, and everyone tensed up. Ozpin took one more sip from his coffee, as Yue looked toward Winter and put on a pair of Aviators, that Winter could only assume she's gotten from Yang. Then with a loud "KA-THUNK!!", they were all airborne.


	6. Do you believe in      destiny?

     Winter soared through the air, scanning the area below. She cooled the air directly around her causing the warm below to rise to take its place, creating a warm updraft. As her fall slowed she created thin sheets of ice between her arms and legs allowing her to glide a bit farther before making an ice slide to the forest floor. The makeshift wing suit shattered as she hit the slide and surfed down the ice ramp. She jumped off the base and let the ramp melt behind her.  
     She began to head towards the far end of the forest, jogging, jumping over trees. She had no concern about finding a partner. Her parents always told her that, "things just happen. No amount of planning and effort can change what is going to happen. Sometimes, despite our choices, things happen and it is the mark of a strong person to make the best of the situation, whatever your role." Her own parents had hated each other when they first met. They fought, bickered, and quarreled, until they realized they were only facing their inner demons and that the best way to win was to work together.  
     Winter thought about a conversation she'd had with her parents, as she continued through the forest. It had been about how they had met and about accepting what was.  
     "So you can't change how things happen?" Winter asked.  
     "No you can't, you just have to make the best with what you are given." Ruby had replied.  
     "So like destiny," Winter had mused. "You believe in destiny?"  
     Ruby had looked to Wiess and they frowned. Winter got worried she'd said something wrong and looked down at the floor. Ruby saw this and started smiling again.  
     "No, not destiny," She began. She knelt to the floor and looked Winter in the eyes.  
     "Destiny is considered an inescapable fate, an outcome that's unavoidable. I believe in creating your own outcome for a situation you are given. In the end the only person you can control is your self, but you can always do your best. That's all anyone can ask and most of the time it's more than enough."  
     "So one has to die?" Winter asked.  
Ruby frowned again, "No one has to die, but it happens."  
     "Why?" Winter asked, still being very young and confused.  
     "Because that's part of life," Wiess cut in. "All things must end so something else can begin. That's how things work. When people die, it's sad, and you can do your best to prevent the unnecessary ones. However that isn't always possible. You can't always save everyone.'  
     "But you can sure try," Ruby interjected, cheerfully. Weiss rolled her eyes.  
     Winter grinned, shaking off the memory, returning her focus to her current task. She stopped to catch her breath and looked around. The forest was absurdly quite. She hadn't seen a single Grimm the entire run through the forest. That seemed a bit odd, considering the warning about Grimm hampering progress as part of the trial.  
     Winter shook the thoughts out of her head. Why question good fortune, right? Still, it seemed almost too easy. Just then, off to her left and back behind her, she heard a scream. She whirled around and ran in the direction of the scream.


	7. Moonlight

Yue felt the plate shoot her into the air and the wind against her face as she rocketed away from the cliff. She quickly took in her surroundings and calculated her trajectory compared to the treetops and adjusted she she could create a bounce pad to slow her fall without crashing into trees or breaking her legs. Her semblance was generally limited but she was able to use calculations, dust, and readings to augment her abilities, making up for what she naturally lacked. She created a bounce pad and ricocheted off it towards a tree branch she had seen that looked particularly thick. She used her semblance to create claws of moonlight and dug into the tree, steadying herself.  
She looked around through the canopy and saw Winters ice slide melting away a few meters away. She repelled down the trunk, hooking her claws in every few meters, till she reached the base. She took off running in the direction of the slide. After racing around bushes, over and under fallen logs, and dodging roots, she reached a small clearing. Standing at the edge of the clearing was a small Ursa. It was the first Grimm she'd encountered, which she did think was a bit odd. She rushed across the field and pulled her spear out of the gate, and jumped at the Ursa, impaling it. She pulled it out and swung it, cutting the head clean off.  
She put her spear away and continued walking. After a while she heard a noise and ran towards it. Suddenly the ground fell away and she was falling. Again.


	8. The Hunt Begins

> Pheonix panicked. She had wanted to hide the fact that she was faunus but she had no idea how to land without using her wings. She looked around and saw others using their semblances to slow their fall and land, none paying much attention to anyone else. She pulled out her wings and caught the wind just below the tree tops and glided down through the forest. She landed and immediately retracted her wings. She started off towards the temple at the end of the forest, feeling very confident and at home. This was a hunt through a forest. The hunt was for an object rather than an animal or person or even Grimm, although they were supposed to exterminate any they saw, but that objective was secondary. But it was no less exhilarating. She started to run, grinning like a maniac. She shot bursts of fire, incinerating two tiny Nevermores. She threw some throwing knives at an Ursa, channeling her power through them and burning a sigil on the Ursa. She drew her sword and chopped it's head off. She slashed it down in the direction of a Beowolf, incinerating it. She looked around and realized that the burning Grimm had set the forest on fire. She absorbed the flames, putting out the fires and gained a lot of energy since the fires she started had grown in size. She walked on, oblivious to the events unfolding not far away. 


	9. Chapter 9

She broke through the trees into a clearing and tripped on someone's shoulder. She realized as she fell, that the clearing was actually a large ditch. She felt the shoulder that her foot hooked on, give way and fall back. Winter tumbled head first down the hill, followed closely by the owner of the shoulder that she tripped on. She landed, quite unceremoniously, on the floor of the small valley, sprawled out like a Grimm skin rug. A large butt, presumably owned by the same person as the shoulder, landed on top of Winter.  
"Owww," the person complained. "Wiiinnnttteeerrr... I almost got out of here," the voice complained again. This time, despite being face down in the dirt, Winter identified the owner of the voice. It was Yue! She tripped on Yues shoulder and made both of them roll down the hill. 'Talk about restating the obvious,' She thought as she ran all these thoughts through her head.   
Yue fell back, flopping on Winters back, and sighed. "Now I've got to climb all the way back up," She said, in an exasperated voice.   
Winter pushed herself up, causing Yue to topple into the dirt. The two of them stood up and looked at each other. Their eyes met and the grinned, then started to laugh hysterically.   
"I think we're partners now," Winter managed to get out from between her ragged gasps, wiping tears from her eyes.   
"Yeah... I don't think this is how it was for Aunt Wiess and Auntie Ruby," Yue snickered, holding her stomach. "We better get going if we want to also beat their record for completing the challenge.  
"That wouldn't be to hard since they wasted a good half an hour wandering around the forest, lost, trying to find the temple," Winter remarked snidely. "Or at least that's what Mommy always said."  
"Yeah I'm sure Aunt Wiess had different recollection of events," Yue replied, grinning. "Mom and Dad always said they didn't have much trouble finding it. I'm sure it won't be that hard. Our best bet is to head farther away from the cliff search to any signs of a path, clearing, or old ruins."  
The two of them headed off into the forest to find the ever elusive temple, so they could complete initiation.


End file.
